Founding Engineer (CTO-track)

Herakles Defense | Founding Engineer (CTO-track) | Munich, Germany | ONSITE PREFERRED (Remote possible) | We are building autonomous kinetic interceptors to neutralize the rapidly evolving kamikaze FPV drone threat. The Engineering Challenge: We are solving the "closed-loop" problem for high-speed aerial pursuit. Our mission is to move beyond simple detection and achieve a seamless handover where visual tracking directly drives the flight control logic at speeds exceeding 100km/h. The Tech Stack & Hardware: * Compute: Currently prototyping on Qualcomm QRB5165 utilizing the NPU/DSP for low-latency inference. * Flight Stack: PX4-based, integrating terminal guidance laws (PropNav) and adaptive control loops. * The Role: We have a hardware prototype concept that we believe is the right foundation. However, as our Founding Engineer, the technical execution is entirely in your hands. Whether we optimize the current ARM/NPU stack or pivot to custom architectures is your call. Location & Ecosystem: We are based in Munich, Germany. While we are open to remote arrangements for the right candidate, onsite is preferred to iterate quickly with the hardware. Munich is arguably the best robotics ecosystem in Europe. Home to TUM (Technical University of Munich) and a unique density of talent, funding opportunities and testing grounds. Who we are looking for: A builder who is comfortable at the intersection of C++, embedded Linux, and flight dynamics. If you’ve pushed edge-AI chips to their limits to control high-kinetic physical systems, we want to hear from you. The Offer: Significant founding equity, full technical autonomy, and the chance to build a critical layer of modern defense infrastructure. Full mission briefing: https://www.herakles-defense.com/founding-engineer